Paraguay's president, once a priest, admits to fathering love child

President Fernando Lugo addresses a crowd in Asuncion, Paraguay, on February 3.

Story highlights

Fernando Lugo's lawyer says he is drawing up the paperwork for official recognition

The boy's mother says she met Lugo when she went to him for spiritual guidance

Lugo was a Roman Catholic bishop before he became president

Four women claim to have a child with him; he has admitted to fathering two children

Paraguay's president, a former Roman Catholic bishop, has admitted he is the father of a 10-year-old boy, his attorney said.

"I have just had a meeting with the president. I have received instructions to begin today the paperwork for the recognition of the minor," Marcos Farina, the president's lawyer, told reporters.

Narcisa de la Cruz, the boy's mother, said she met President Fernando Lugo when she came to him for spiritual guidance while he was bishop.

"Since I was having problems with my husband, I got close to him," she said.

She is the fourth woman to claim having a child with the president.

In 2009, Lugo admitted to fathering a son with one other woman, prompting an opposition senator to call on the Vatican to excommunicate him.

Several days later, another woman came forward, claiming Lugo was her son's father. The paternity case for that boy is still pending.

A judge dismissed another paternity case after DNA testing revealed Lugo was not the father.

De la Cruz said that even though Lugo had not officially recognized the boy, she had been receiving money monthly from him. She said she made the paternity case before the media after she and her son were denied access to the president.

"Many times he went to (the president's official residence), and he was not allowed in. This made him feel very bad. 'Why,' he said, 'why are so many people entering with him, and I, his son, cannot enter?' " she said.

Many Paraguayan officials have declined to comment on Lugo's latest revelation, but some said that the president had done the right thing.

"What is important, above all, is that sooner or later, he assumed the responsibility of his paternity," Health Minister Esperanza Martinez said.

Lugo was made a lay Catholic in 2008, about the time he assumed the presidency.

The leftist leader is entering the final leg of his term, which ends in August 2013. The country's constitution prohibits him from running for re-election.